Trolley.



. Patented |u|y 9,1901." T. L. McELnoY. l

no, 677,8sl.

' TROLLEY.

(Appximion mea on. 5, 1900.)

(No Model.)

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WITNESS /Sm 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS L. MCELROY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW VYORK, ASSIGNOR OFTIVO- THIRDS TO FREDERICK A. THOMAS, OF NEW YORK, AND TIIEODORE HONEGGER, OF NEV BRIGHTON, NEW YORK.

TROLLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N O. 677,881, dated July 9, 1901.

Application filed October 5, 1900.

To all whom, it may concern.'

Beit known that I, THOMAS L. MCELROY, a citizen of the United States, residingin Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolleys, of which the following is a specification.

My invention provides an improved trolleywheel adapted to be used in the ordinary underrunning trolley of electric railways having overhead conductors.

My invention provides a trolley which` is simply and efficiently lubricated and which carries a supply of lubricant sufficient to last for a considerable length of time.

It provides also a trolley of which the wheel makes very intimate electrical connection with the fork of the trolley and in which the wheel is allowed to yield slightly from side to side without injuring the degree of electrical connection. v

It provides also a trolley having various other points of advantage, all of which will` be specifically set forth in the following speci 'cation.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, showing embodiments lof my invention, Figures 1 and 2 are elevations, partly in section, of my trolley, including the fork of the trolley and the wheel, the view being in the direction of the plane of the wheel. Fig.- 3 is a section of Fig. l on the line 3 3. Fig. et is a section through the right-hand end of the shaft C3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a section similar to that of Figs. l and 2, illustrating a modification.

The principal elements of my trolley are a wheel revolving on a fixed shaft, a hollow fork carrying said shaft and adapted to carry a supply of lubricant, and means for feeding the lubricant from the reservoirs in the fork to the wheel.. An ladditional feature of my invention and which may be used with or without the lubricating means described is' the mounting of the wheel on a spring which surrounds the shaft. Said spring turns with the wheel and makes intimate contact from the wheel to each of the side arms of said serai No. 32,107. oro 'matti fork. It thus allows considerable side play of the wheel without lessening the degree of 5o contact with the side arms of the fork.

,'Referring to Fig.' l, A is the wheel, and B the trolley, having at 'its end a fork comprising arms Bf B. A shaft C is held non-rotatively between the arms B B in any suitable manner. Within the hub of the wheel A and attached thereto, as by a set-screw a, is a spring D, extending under a slight compression from one arm VB to the other. The Wheel is attached to the spring at about its middle point, vso that the wheel shall be midway between the arms of the fork under normal conditions. Each of the forks B' B' is hollow, as shown at b, and adapted to contain a supply of oil. A cap b covers the end of the fork B. In the construction shown in Fig. l the shaft C consists of abolt having a head C and screw-threaded at its opposite end. A nut E is screwed on the screwthreaded end of the shaft C, and being screwed tightly against ythe fork B is sufficient to holdthe shaft C non-rotatively in position. Washers c, of rubber or the like, prevent leakage of the oil. The shaft is provided alongits upper side with a channel c and near its opposite ends with' diametral passages 02, registering with the hollowspaces b in the arms of the fork and with the channel c'. For the purpose of carrying the oil to the shaft C, I use a wick C2, which' depends at its ends c8 into the oil in the chambers b. In the upper part of the chamber b I insert also an additional packing, such as a piece of wicking c4, which prevents the oil from shaking out when the trolley is in use. The oil is carried by capillary attraction up the ends of the wick c8 and to the portion O2, lying within the groove c', whence it is drawn into the space between the spring D and the shaft C and lubricates the passage of the pulley about the shaft. For positively drawingthe oil out of the wick C2, I form the wh'eelA'with a hollow hub A', which at its outermost portion is provided With any convenient number of perforations a'. The rotation of the wheel A exerts a centrifugal force on the air withinthe' hollow hub A', which air escaping through the perforations ce' causes a suction along the wick C2 sufficient to moisten the inner surface of the spring D as it passes over the groove c'. This spring D then carries the oil entirely around the surface of the shaft D, and thus lubricates the whole completely. The cap b is perforated at b2, so as to admit air to the chamber b to take the place of the oil drawn y out of it. This perforation b2 will only be necessary where the wick is so large as toentirely fill the groove c at the point where the shaft C enters the fork B'.

In Fig. 2 the principal elements are ther same,some modifications thereof being shown. The wheel A2 has a solid hub A3, the spring D being fastened to the hub of the wheel by set-screws d2, passing. through said hub. The. i

shaft C3 is hollow, itsy open end being stopped by a screw or other plug c4. For theA escape of the oil it is provided with passages c5. One wick extends, from4 end to. end of the. hollow in the shaft C3, and other separate wicks F extend through. vertical passages c in the shaft down into the oil. in the chamber b and are packed in the upper part of thechamber, soas. to prevent the splashing of oil. The cover b', perforatedl at b2, is especially useful in thisform of the. invention. In order that the spring shall turn most freely about its shaft, al bushing Gr.,of lubricating composition, such, as mixtures of metal with a lubricant, isdriven over themetal part of the shaft C, and the spring. rotates on` this bushing, being entirely freebetween the ends ofthe bushing and the forks, as shown. perforated at g to register with the perforations c5 of the shaft C3. For maintaining the shaft C3 in anydesired fixed positionone of the forks BI is provided with a lug b3, cored iny a vertical direction. The shaft C3 is perforated, and a pin crl passes through the end of the. shaft Cs and into the lugv b3, thereby holding the shaft against longitudinalor rotative movement. The operation is very simifi lar toV thatvof the form shown in. Fig. l. The oil is sucked up by the wicks F, which4 are in contact with the wick C2, the latter carrying the oil4 along inside the shaft C to the'holes c5, whence it passes out to the outer surface of the bushing G and the space between said bushing'and the spring D. The shaft O in.

the Fig. 2 construction is solid at its righthand end,` as shown in Fig. 4.

It will be seen that the trolley of my invention is simple and efficient, that it will carry a large supply of lubricant sufficient to last for several days, that the wheel revolves,

on its shaft with the minimum amount of friction, and yet maintains a goodspring-con- 1 tact with the metallic arms of the fork, and

, that the more rapidthe revolution of the wheel the faster is the lubricating action, so that said lubricating action is automatically regulated according to the needs of the case. My improved trolley is also easily taken apart The bushingfis for reprairs,and when the wheel becomes much wor-n it can be replaced without having to discard the various other elements of the device.

Though I have described with great particularity of detail certain embodiments of .my invention, it will be understood that I am not limited to the specific features shown and described.

Many modifications of the individual paris and in the arrangement of the parts are possible to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit 0f my invention. For

example, the space b in the fork B may be continuous, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, orit may only extend in two separate cham- ',bers into the arms of the fork, as shown in Fig. 2.

l The means of fasteni-ngihe spring to the wheel may also he varied, as sho-wn` in Fig.

l5. In this construct-ion the hub` A4 of the Atrolley-wheel is hollowed out, asshown at d4.

g The springD heilig inserted inV place, the hollow A4 isv filled with Babbittlnetal or the like a5, which iills the hollowr ai* and enters to a slight extent between the rings of the spring iD, thereby holding the wheel and the spring f firmly together. G shows the bushing of Fig.

2, and C3 the hollow shaft of the-same figure;

hu-t i-t is evident that thel same modeA of fastening the spring to the wheel may be utilized with the'shaft C of Fig.. l.

A hood M, Fig. 5, may be fastened to the arms of the fork and extended over the sprin g to. prevent wear on the same from the trolgleyfwire when the wheel is accidentally thrown off the wire.

i sliding contact withthe hub of the wheel and f is electrically connected with itsA fork, so as ,to provide anv easy path of very little resistiance for the current.

What I claim, therefore, and desire to segcure by Letters Patent, are the following-defined novel features incombination,each suh- 4stantially as described:

1. In a trolley, the combination of ahollow `fork adapted to carry a supply oflubricant,

a, shaft fixed non-rotatively in saidV fork, a

wheel mounted to rotate on said shaft, said shaft having agroove at its upper surface and havinga passageiat its end anda wick lying vhjin said groove, passing through said passage land having its end inserted into the oil in fsaid hollow fork.

i 2. In a trolley, the combination of an oilreservoir, a,I shaft Ohaving a groove cy in its gsurface, a passage c2 at its end communicat- `:ing with said' groove, and a wick C2 lying in vsaid groove and extending through saidpas- 4sage into said oil-reservoir.

l 3. In a trolley thecombination of a hollow fork,a shaft. in. said fork, and a Wheel on said 1 shaft, saidl wheel having ahollow hubA with kperforations a near. its outermost portion.

4. In a trolley, the combination of a shaft,

La spring surrounding said shaft, and a wheel Each hood M makes- IOO IIO

spring, said spring bearing at its outer ends against the forks of the trolley, whereby said wheel is held yieldingly in a middle position and is maintained in electrical connection with the fork under all conditions.

5. In a trolley, the combination of a shaft, a spring surrounding said shaft, and a wheel at approximately the middle portion of said spring, and a hood M extended over said spring, said spring bearing at its outer ends against the forks of the trolley, whereby said wheel is held yieldingly in a middle position and is maintained in electrical connection with the fork under all conditions.

G. In a trolley, the combination of a shaft, a spring surrounding said shaft, a wheel at approximately the middle portion of said spring, and a hood M connected to said fork and making sliding contact with said Wheel,

said spring bearing at its outer ends againstk the forks of the trolley, whereby said wheel is held yieldingly in a middle position and is maintained in electrical connection with the fork under all conditions.

7. In a trolley the combination of a non;

rotative shaft, a spring surrounding said shaft and adapted to rotate thereon, and a wheel attached to said spring at approximately its middle portion, said spring bearing at its ends against the forks of the trolley, whereby 3o said wheel is held yieldingly in a middle po-r sition and is maintained in electrical connece tion with the fork under all conditions.

8. In a trolley the combination of a nonrotative shaft, a bushing of lubricating com- 3 5 position thereon, a spring surrounding said bushing so as to rotate thereon, and a Wheel fixed to said spring at about its middle point, said spring bearing at :its ends on the inside of the fork, whereby said wheel is held yield- 4o THOMAS LIVICELROY Witnesses:

DOMINGO A, UsrNA., FRED WHITE. 

